I love being an independent author! I love having complete autonomy over the product I put out and reaping the rewards. But it is so frustrating to spend hours, days... months? editing (and having professionals edit for you as well) only to put the product into the marketplace and find errors! I am running into this issue now and while the errors are minor, they are still there. I have tried consoling myself with the fact that I have read books by national best sellers and found mistakes, but it's not working in soothing my ire.
My example is in Chapter 8 of An Unexpected obsession, the "n" was overlooked at the end of the word "known" so that it reads "know" instead. I didn't catch it, my editor didn't catch it, and none of the people who were given advanced proofing copies of my book caught it. I realize that it is minor and it is easy for the readers brain to add a letter to a word when you know it is supposed to be there, but how many eyes need to see the same work before you can be assured the mistakes have all been caught?
On the bright side, as an indie it is possible to make changes and re-upload your book in a short amount of time. But it is still embarrassing for those of us trying to overcome the stigma of "unpolished" when your efforts do not come out perfect. Have any of you other indie authors run into this dilemma? How do you overcome the issue? Am I being too much of a perfectionist?
And how do you let your reading public know that adjustments have been made to correct the errors? I am joining a local writers group this year and hope the extra eyes will ensure the few mistakes that passed unnoticed for my first book are not overlooked in the next ones, but is it enough? Is there a group already in existence where indie authors band together to read each others work after an editor has given their stamp of approval?
I'm open to ideas, suggestion and browbeating:)
Happy Writing!
About Me
- Heidi Hall
- I am an avid reader, animal lover, devourer of guacamole, storyteller and the author of An Unexpected Obsession, A Dose of Reality, Witch Way, A Coven by Christmas, Love Spells, Summer Solstice (coming soon), Flirting With Death, Flirting With Murder and the rest of the upcoming Assassins Anonymous series. I attended Arizona State University (go Sun Devils!) and make my home in the Valley of the Sun with my husband and three pampered pets. I like to discuss everything funny, sexy, sassy and absurd. But mostly I like to talk about books... and shoes... and outrageously expensive purses... and Chanel sunglasses ...oooh, and anything sparkly... or fluffy! So, come on in and let's chat!
Oh man! I've done this so many times.
ReplyDeleteMy only way to deal with it is to remind myself that major game companies send out patches for bugs and major updates or additions to storyline years after the game has been out, so why can't I?